Bartybum

Those new red 7L dog bones everyone’s hyped about on 40282... I think they’re just 5L dog bones. The blurry image combined with the perspective of the red panels makes them look 5x11, but I think they might only be 3x11. The ends of the dog bones are too thick in relation to the long bit.

It’s blue. I didn’t believe him at first but then I checked again and he’s right

Or we just need better pictures heheheheheh

It’s an XL motor. An M motor wouldn’t be able to lift the boom

It’s just the type of crane that it is. Google “2 axle rough terrain crane” and the same sort of vehicles come up.

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@Jim, what’s the deal with drawings made of the prelim images? Is that allowed? If so then perhaps someone who still has them can get on to it ;)

That’s totally different than what he meant though. He’s talking about a pneumatic engine not a compressor. To spin the saw blade with pneumatics would require an engine. That won’t fit anywhere in the set, because the rear will house the battery box and the compressor. EDIT: lmao at anyone thinking PFv2 is coming any time soon. There’s no need for it to since PFv1 already does what’s needed.

Honestly I’d say probably not. Pneumatic engines are quite large, and wouldn’t fit on the grabber or the back which houses the battery box

Guess not. We’ll have to wait and see!

All that doesn’t account for the box being the same size as that of 42055...

Having seen all four, they all look like really playable sets, which is an amazing plus. 42079 Forklift Truck: first thing I noticed is the LBG Arocs gear rack in the arm. Can confirm that the set definitely uses cables (a roller can be seen at the top of the arm. I really appreciate that the designer went as far as to include an exhaust stack and hubcaps too. In general the whole set appears to have an incredibly clean design, which I love. 42080 Forest Harvester: Aside from the struggling colour identity, this set also looks very interesting, with a lot going on. Double large pneumatic cylinders as well as what’s likely to be small cylinders (hidden behind the grabber) is a big plus. The designer also included small details like exhaust stacks, which is to be appreciated. The seat is a blue curved panel like in the powerboat from 2016. Can anyone comment on the two bits sitting next to the harvester? I’m not sure what they are... 42081 Volvo Autonomous: Holy... this thing looks amazing. It looks like something straight out of science fiction, and I love the insectoid look it has. The camera boom sticking out of the rear is a really cool addition. The drone is super cute and is colour coordinated with the loader. I can see a curved yellow panel acting as the drone body. I really dig the 3-spoke rims it has over the CLASS tyres. Also, unless they’re just black 6L dishes mounted backwards in the wheels (probable), we might be getting large wheels in black with yellow trim. Final note on the 3-spoke rims, they look to be the CCBS knee guards in yellow! 42082 Rough Terrain Crane: Aw man, another beauty. That boom looks really long but super sturdy. The wheels have hubs which is nice. The crane is quite similar to the Zoomlion RT55. The red and black colour scheme is quite different to what you’d expect from a crane. I think I would’ve preferred blue and DBG instead of red and black, but I’m content with what we’ve got. It’ll be interesting to see if the cabin can pitch upwards as well. The exposed engine is interesting but I think I can forgive it since the rest of the set definitely makes up for it. I’ve never had this feeling, but I genuinely feel like all the 2H sets are a must buy. They’re beautifully designed with a very satisfying focus on functions as well as looks. I’m very impressed that these actually look like they’re of the same standards as some great MOCs we see. Technic has clearly had a fat budget this year

While panels do offer structural rigidity, I’ve gotta say that for cars I’m a much bigger fan of flex axles, because of the curved contours and shapes they allow for, unlike panels. For example, 8448 does this beautifully, whereas 42077 and 42039 suffer from a very boxy aesthetic. This is especially noticeable when looking at their wheel arches. The point of panels is to cover up gaps, and you can’t do that on curved bodies without either using a crazy amount of pieces or leaving gaps in the bodywork, which to me makes the model look rather unfinished. The rear quarter panels and nose of 42056 suffer from this. Flex axles make a model look much more graceful. 42056’s nose also suffers from an ugly bump due to the 3x11 curved panel which could be avoided with the use of flex axles instead. For sets such as 42009, 42055, 8258, etc. the panel system works very well because the vehicles in these sets are boxy to begin with. I’d prefer flex axles to be much more prevalent than panels in Technic cars.

I pretty much agree with what you said. I don’t know whether I’d reinstate the racers theme because evidently there was a reason it was ended. I wouldn’t cannibalise all small Technic sets though since the small ones serve as an introduction to the theme for newcomers, but I’d definitely like to see less sets being released per year, with only maybe one or two being small, so that more resources could be allocated towards making the larger models as good/functional as possible. My ideal vision for the theme would be six sets per year with authentic functions: Two with >2000 pieces, two with 1000-2000 pieces, one with 500-1000 pieces and one with <500 pieces. This would ensure that both racing vehicles as well as small vehicles still exist. There would be six categories of vehicles used: - Construction: cranes, bulldozers, excavators, diggers, loaders, graders, mining, etc. - Aircraft: stunt planes, helicopters, spacecraft, etc. - Racing: cars, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles, etc. - Seacraft: hydroplanes, hovercraft, boats, yachts, etc. - Transportation: trucks, emergency, civil use, port vehicles, etc. - Farming: tractors, harvesters, etc. These categories would cycle through all set sizes every six years to keep variety.

Man that’s beautiful

Scania

I had a suspicion a while back that Saber’s an Aussie (I am too) so it would make sense if he’s never seen 53ft containers. I honestly don’t ever recall seeing anything over 40ft in Australia.

Yeah that’s what I thought; unlike what @Saberwing40k said, 53ft containers for road travel are most certainly a thing.

Do you mean for road travel?

@Void_S Can you sacrifice the row of studs between the inner tyre and the 5x7 so it’s +0.5 studs on either side instead of +1.5?

Did it really? I never realised :o

I wish the pullbacks were put into the racers theme instead. I’d love some small Technic sets like the bobcat and the forklift again

Oh my lord, I’m so sorry hahah. I misread 42076 as 42078 and assumed @Maaboo35 was talking about how when you extend the large LA on the cranes the elbows don’t stay at the same angle relative to the ground like in real trailers. I admit, now that I realise you’re talking about the hovercraft that is a bit unwieldy, unless they indeed are connected below deck. I have no idea how I made that mistake. I must have seen MLA and assumed we were talking about the trailer, and glossed over everything else.

How so?

I honestly think that’s a non-issue. Unless you’re like 5 it won’t be hard to get the hang of it.